When you begin to look into gold mining one company rises to the top of any Google search, Newmont Mining Company. Currently I am living this term out in Denver, Colorado on an internship and I found this fascinating and decided to drive down about 30 minutes to Greenwood Village to take a peek at their new headquarters and see if I could get into talk with someone. I will come back to that adventure in a bit…
Newmont prides itself on how it leads the country in sustainability projects and how the company was selected to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Now my exploration of their site led me to their projects of sustainability and more importantly their Idarado mining operation in the south western reaches of the Colorado national parks. According to the site the companies “mine closure, reclamation, and sustainable development” procedures come to life in the Idarado mines which had been independently operated since the 1860’s and part of the Newmont Co. from 1939-1979 (Beyond the Mine). Now I am not exactly sure when people started to notice the need for more sustainable practices when mining and substance, but I can say with almost certainty that during WWII it was not on the top of everyone’s mind. So how sustainable could one company really be? Is there a method for cleaning up the problems left by gold mining that we have yet to discover but yet it took the Newmont Co. performed the task nearly 30 years ago?
The Newmont Co. did a very important thing for the mining communities and by restoring some of the scenic beauty that once stood and allowed for many communities to thrive in a growing tourists market after the mines had closed. However, was this action really the company’s gracious effort to give back to a community that gave everything they had to them? Unfortunately no, according the State of Colorado’s government website, “in 1983, the State of Colorado filed suit against the Idarado Mining Company for natural resource damages under CERCLA.” Now here is the part that we all throw out a little sigh of disappointment, but now I urge you to shoot out a “well hey!” as in, well hey this just proves our entire purpose behind what we are trying to accomplish with this class website!
Now back to my adventure to the headquarters building; where I entered to find a very lavish entrance with state-of-the-art everything. I asked if I could speak with someone about the Idarado mine closures and they were quick to say you need to set up an appointment. That process I came to discover was not one that the company would likely waste their time on with a out-of-state college girl with no real publicity power in the matter. So I took one last look around and stormed off (more of a strut with a hint of attitude) back to my car with the intent of writing mean things all over our site. But I have come to realize that in comparison to many other mining companies the Newmont Co. is one of the “better” ones. Do I believe it is wrong that their site raves about their sustainability missions but only highlights 10-20 sugar coated examples when the company has hundreds of sites all over the world? Yes. However again they are not going to change without force and that force is never going to be applied unless we as consumers step up and voice our opinion.
~Lindsay Hofer
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